Annotation:Highlander's Farewell to Ireland (1) (The)
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HIGHLANDER'S FAREWELL (TO IRELAND) [1], THE. AKA and see "Highland Watch's Farewell to Ireland (The)." Scottish, Strathspey. A Dorian. Standard tuning (fiddle). AAB (Gow, Skye): AABB (Glen, S. Johnson): AA'BB (Phillips): ABCCDD (Athole): AABBCCDD (Kerr): AABBCCDDEE (Johnson): AABBCCDEEFGGHH (McGlashan, Ross). A strathspey composed for the fiddle in imitation of bagpipe style. John Glen (1891) finds the earliest printing of the tune in Neil Stewart's 1761 collection (p. 27), although it also appears in the 1768 Gillespie Manuscript of Perth. It was also entered into the 1770 music manuscript collection of Peeblesshire musician James Ballantine. Originally published with two parts, it was a favourite piece for variation sets. For example, it appears in the 1780 Robert Ross collection in 6 parts—a similar version was recorded by Cape Breton fiddler Bill Lamey in the 1950's. See also Galax, Va., fiddler Emmett Lundy's (1864–1953) old-time version as "Highlander's Farewell (4)."
Source for notated version: Ross's Scots Reels, p. 10 [Johnson]; Ruthie Dornfeld (Seattle) [Phillips].
Printed sources:
Glen (Collection of Scottish Dance Music, vol. 1), 1891; p. 23.
Gow (Complete Repository, Part 2), 1802; p. 5.
Johnson (Scottish Fiddle Music in the 18th Century), 1984; No. 39, p. 98.
S. Johnson (Kitchen Musician No. 20: A Twenty Year Anniversary Collection), 2003; p. 43.
Kerr (Merry Melodies, vol. 1) c. 1880; Set 12, No. 1, p. 9.
MacDonald (The Skye Collection), 1887; p. 102.
McGlashan (Collection of Reels), c. 1786; p. 5.
Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; p. 112.
Robert Ross (Choice Collection of Scots Reels), Edinburgh, 1780; pp. 10–11 (as "The Highlander's Farewell").
Stewart-Robertson (The Athole Collection), 1884; p. 48.
Recorded sources:
Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Éireann CL 13, "Tommy Peoples" (1976).
Rounder Records 7052, Buddy MacMaster – "The Cape Breton Tradition" (2003).
WMR002, Wendy MacIsaac – "The 'Reel' Thing" (1994).
See also listing at:
Alan Snyder's Cape Breton Fiddle Recordings Index [1]